For Democrats down in the dumps about the party’s prospects for 2010, you can revisit the last midterms tonight with a screening of “HouseQuake,” a documentary about the Democrats efforts at regaining control of Congress in 2006.

The film, directed by Karen Price, centers on Rahm Emanuel, then a representative from Illinois and chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and the movie depicts his hyper-competitive instincts that he refers to as “pure winning.” The candid look at Emanuel that year zeroes in on his efforts to recruit candidates for tough races in swing districts which eventually paid off.

Price compares 2006 to 2010 in a Huffington Post entry. “Rep. Pete
Sessions, National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman, has
said that he will debut a document similar to Newt Gingrich’s 1994
“Contract with America” in September and recently told reporters,
“Anything less (than retaking the House), and I do not fulfill my
mission statement.” If that happens, it likely will be the result of
Republicans’ taking advantage of voters’ unhappiness and focusing blame
on those monopolizing power in Washington. In other words, Republicans
could win by acting like Rahm.”

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